Seattle, WA – The Seattle Sounders were not so kind hosts, as they dominated visiting Real Salt Lake across the board in a 2-0 victory. The Sounders continue to open their 2023 campaign on what is shaping up to be a successful “revenge tour” if you can call it that for a group that missed the playoffs for the first time in their MLS existence but did become the first club in league history to win Concacaf Champions League in its current form. Just like in their win over Colorado in week one, the Sounders were propelled to victory with goals from Jordan Morris and Heber, while their defensive backline and Stefan Frei recorded a clean sheet. Seattle has looked dominant through their first two contests, and it may spell trouble for the rest of MLS once again.
Seattle celebrates Heber’s second half goal (Photo by Paul Kahl)
Alex Roldan’s critical crosses propel the scoring
Right outside back Alex Roldan has gotten better production wise in his last two years leading into the 2023 campaign, and it seems like that positive trend will continue this season. The Seattle University alumni was as instrumental to the two Sounders goals as those who got credit for them on the score sheet, as his balls in play were in perfect position. Even though shortly before his first assist of the night his initial cross was blocked, Alex remained calm with the ball and took it aside to regroup and find his new target. The result was a beautiful spiraling ball that found Morris in the box, between two Salt Lake defenders mind you, for a redirect that goalkeeper Zac MacMath had no chance at. That sort of ball from an outside back is precisely what the Sounders could have asked for from Alex Roldan in that instance, and then some.
His second of the night was perhaps a little less intentional than his first, coming off a saved shot of Roldan’s by Salt Lake goalkeeper Zac MacMath. Alex Roldan was able to get ahold of a saved shot of his brother Cristian, as the elder Roldan had his shot from just within the box only palmed by MacMath so that it landed at the feet of Alex. Alex fired the ball immediately as he received it, sending it on a straight line into the box, not at goal. The ball was directly at Heber, who just had to open his left foot towards goal to put Seattle’s second score of the night on the board. The two Sounders goals of the night were 90% Alex Roldan and the remaining 10% from the two who got credit for the score when it comes to how those plays developed.
Right back Alex Roldan notched two assists on the night and was named the man of the match (Photo by Paul Kahl)
Morris making his mark to begin 2023
Mercer Island native Jordan Morris has hit the ground running a mile a minute to begin the current season, which is an extremely welcoming sight for the club and it’s fanbase. In my season preview of the club and the season, I mentioned how getting Morris back to a speed that we’ve seen when he’s been fully healthy pre-2022 was a major key to not only the success of Seattle but making his five-year extension this offseason worthwhile. Considering his current start and how it potentially projects for the rest of his 2023 campaign, that extension looks better by the day. If Morris can keep up this pace, we may see an MVP bid from the local kid.
As a blond, Morris is continuing to take the phrase “use your head” quite literally as all his goals this season have come via header. With three so far this season, Morris has tied his career high for header goals in a season (set in 2016), doing so in 32 fewer games. When it comes to scoring goals, it usually is irrelevant “how” they happen, the “how many” is what often arises and so far, it seems like Morris is ready to push the boundaries of that latter question.
Jordan Morris points at Alex Roldan following his first half header goal (Photo by Nate Koppelman)
Sounders remain rock solid on the back end, potentially rebuilding “fortress” Lumen?
With the same group of starters on the backend as last week, the Sounders backline and goalkeeper Stefan Frei earned a second straight clean sheet to begin the season. The four of Nouhou, Jackson Ragen, Yeimar, and Alex Roldan were stout all night as they held Real Salt Lake to an abysmal two shots on target and an expected goals percentage of just 0.39. After a feeling out period in the first ten minutes, Seattle shut down and decimated any sort of buildup or offensive progression that their opponents tried to mount, and with a chance here or there, made Stefan Frei’s job very manageable in goal. With rumors swirling that the club is actively shopping center back Xavier Arreaga, and not being in any rush to get a deal done, this group is giving the Sounders no reason to think twice.
Defender Yeimar sends the ball up the field (Photo by Paul Kahl)
Nouhou and Alex Roldan (in particular, obviously considering he has a whole section dedicated to him in this article) have been able to do their jobs on the back end while also contributing on the attack. Jackson Ragen and Yeimar have locked down the interior part of that line looking locked in as a tandem, something that we didn’t see consistently in the second half of last season. Their next two opponents in Cincinnati and LAFC will test their mettle and may gave us a better idea of what Sounders defensive group we may see as the year proceeds, but so far it looks like the defense we saw record a point in their first 13 matches in 2021.
Defender Jackson Ragen has played well in a starting role (Photo by Nate Koppelman)
What’s next?
Following their miniature homestand of two games to open the season, the Sounders head on to the road for the first time this season for their next matchup. Seattle will travel to Ohio for a battle with FC Cincinnati on Saturday, March 11th with a kickoff time of 4:30PM PST. As Cincinnati only joined Major League Soccer back in 2016, Seattle has only faced off against the club twice, having never lost to the organization. The Sounders will look to continue that positive form against Cincinnati, who has opened the season with a win and draw in their first two contests as they edged Houston and came to a scoreless tie with Orlando.
Check out photographer Paul Kahl’s complete match album here
Check out photographer Nate Koppelman’s complete match album here
